Malesia is a region that lies on both sides of the Equator. It is between two big natural areas called the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. Malesia is known for its plants and is part of the Paleotropical plant kingdom. A Swiss botanist and explorer named Heinrich Zollinger first said it was a special region in 1857.
The exact borders of Malesia can change depending on who defines it. In the book Flora Malesiana, Malesia includes Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Papua New Guinea. The World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) had a similar idea, but in 2001, it separated New Guinea and some nearby islands into a different region called Papuasia.
